Meeting with the Headteacher advice please

[gingerteam]

Good morning, I have an appointment with the head teacher of my DD school later and I would appreciate any advice you can give me. My DD is 8 and is being moved out of her mainstream P4 class into a composite P4/5 for next term. She was moved already in P3 and didn't cope very well being in with younger P2 children. My DD is quite serious and very mature for her age although with a late December birthday she is one of the youngest in her year.
Last year I rang the Head before the classes were made up to explain my DD was unhappy and would benefit from being back in with her peers, she didn't agree to move her but when the classes were announced she had been put back up, DD was delighted and went on to have a really good year.
This year she has been moved back down and is really upset, she feels she is being punished and treated really unfairly. She has already started to have restless nights and bad dreams.
I'm really upset because they have indicated this year they wished to improve the gender balance (there are a lot of girls in this year)and they want more boys but I know they have moved a girl who has only been at school for one year into this class. There are also several children from outwith the catchment area who only got into school on appeal, yet they historically refuse to reverse their decisions on these cases on the grounds of birthdate. It just seems so unfair as it's the one thing I can't change. Any advice would be great. Thanks for reading. I'm in Scotland btw, not sure if there's a difference.

I have never been confronted to that problem myself and it does not make much sense to me.

I think you really have to ask the HT why such persistence to change your DD back down. If you already have several times told them of you desaproving there might be a reason they are keeping to themselves.

I don't know but I am in a similar situation. I would say, keep calm, make a note of the points you want to cover, and be prepared to listen as well. If you are not satisfied ask for a written summary.
It's horrible isn't it?
Good luck, hope you agree on what's best for dd

Thanks for replies, it is horrible yes. I've written loads down and I've asked DH to come along as I suspect I'll get emotional although I'll do my best to keep it professional. I think my main worry is that while they will agree with me they won't change their minds as it would set a precedent for others. It's a complicated situation. Just hate my LO feeling down.
How far along the process are you ninah?

well I found out on friday my ds who is the oldest of his year with a Sept birthday was being kept down
ds is gutted
i rang the head who said he would question it
but nothing further. the reasons he gave did nnot make sense.
I am writing down my concerns
it is compounded by the fact in my case that I work there and head is my employer
aaagh
have no dh in the equation
like you i will try not to blow my top
good luck

Good luck. I hope you get a good result. Keep banging away at them, don't give up. Sometimes they do make exceptions if you create enough fuss. Even if they don't reverse their decision now, keep requesting meetings with them, highlighting that your DD is underperforming in the new class. Sometimes it works and to keep you quiet, they will change their position.

Yes It would be tricky working there, but it may make him a little more sympathetic to your argument. Good luck, when is your meeting?

ChuckBartowski Are you sure that it is based on age? The guidence for the area I live in ( a city in Scotland) is that it is based on maths and language groups.

The reason that I ask is that I am concerned that one of my children might be moved into a composite class, and so I had been reading up on it - a split based on age would worry me more than one based on math/language groups.

Have you got a link to that guidance? It is completely different to what my local council say. (not that I'm doubting you, would just like to be clear what the facts are if I do end up in a situation where a composite class is formed.

I appreciate what you say about teachers differentiating work by ability, but would imagine that it is easier to do that if the range that you are working within is not too wide - for example at the moment one of my DDs is in a class where a large number of the children are all of a very similar ability level, and I feel that that has very much been to my DDs benefit.

Im not saying that my DDs class are all within a narrow ability range, just that there are a fairly large group within the class who all work at a very similar level, and I think that being part of a group ability-wise is better than being an outlier, IYSWIM.

The west lothian leaflet is different to my local one, which gives the impression that maths and language groups are the main factors.

BTW, thanks for answering my questions.

I would be a lot happier with my children being put in classes by ability than by age, but then I suppose setting has its problems too.

It really is nonsensical to assume that children of the same age will be the same academically, socially or emotionally.

ah well I am in England so maybe a bit different
school has told me it is NOT done by age here
reason was - 'emotional - there are children in the higher class he will not cope with'
not had a face to face meeting yet gingerteam
the school gossips are on it though
how are you getting on? any news?

Hi, thank you all so much for your replies I've had an exceptionally busy day and haven't been able to post(another story) ninah my meeting has had to be re-sheduled for tomorrow am.
ChuckBartowski your knowledge has been invaluable and it seems my district council work in very similar ways to West Lothian. It just annoys me that they say they are doing it all by age and you can't appeal but they can tweak/fiddle when it suits them. I suspect a lot of fiddling/tweaking has been done to accommodate one rather troubled child/bully in our school. I heard through the grapevine today that the Head is announcing to all complainers that her school has not moved a child at the parent's request in 15 years! She is proud of this! OMG I am going to suggest tomorrow she considers updating her management style.
I don't hold out much hope for my meeting tomorrow but I've got to give it a try for my DD sake. Will let you know how it goes.

I am completely new to the scottish education system, and composite classes.

My DD1 is in P1 at the moment, but working in the P2/3 class for Reading.

DD2 starts in August and is going into the P1/2 class. I was surprised by this as she isnt 5 until the end of October, and yet she will be in the same class as a boy in DD1's P1 class who was 6 a few months ago.

DD1 is going into P2 as there is no P2/3 class this year.

I just wish I knew what criteria they used to put DD2 into a P1/2 class.... according to Nursery "DD2 is exactly where she needs to be, and probably ahead of where she needs to be" but that is all I have had from them.

I feel DD1 would be better placed in a P2/3 class, as she has had an extra year of education thanks to having started school in England, and moving to the Scottish system in April. I just have to be thankful they are keeping up with her reading classes with the current group she is reading with at the moment.

Is there info re composite classes on the local council websites?! We are Highland council.

Hi, just a quick update to let you know that while the Headteacher said she was sympathetic she "will not and has not moved a child at the parents request ever and doesn't beleive she ever will"
I did tell her I thought this approach was very outdated and put up a very strong argument for moving DD but to no avail. Feel really sad and frustrated that I can't fix this for my LO.

Very sorry gingerteam, that is frustrating, why is she so proud of being inflexible?
I suppose all you can do is see how she gets on. Would you consider moving schools?
I was pleasantly surprised with my meeting, once the reasons were explained to me I could see they made sense, school also said he could be moved up if I insisted.

Think I'll move to your school ninah!
What a difference in attitudes.
One of our strongest arguments was that DD was being moved with no consultation with us. Had we been kept informed and given any reasons to believe the move was in her best interests then of course we would feel differently. Today the Head made it very clear that the classes were decided purely on age unless there were exceptional circumstances.
The really galling thing is though that two class places are being held for children who may (or may not) move in to the area over the summer. She would not even agree to offer my DD one of these places if they were still available at the start of next term. Banging my head against a brick wall really would have been more fun.
Great news for you though and your DS, have you decided what you'll do?